Lucky's Series 3

[syebba]

Presumably that's a straight swap but I'd end up with a nicer gearknob lol?

depends whether you're used to handling a big knob or not!

Your knob looks much like mine[S3 that is!]
cheerio..

[Lucky]

Oi! Stop sniggering at my knob

Cok Guzel = Very Beautiful.

Dirt Boyuk Autolastic = 4 Big Car Tyres.

I think I see NCT tread patterns in the pics? If so they could be aged anywhere from 15 to 20? Out of production since around mid 1990's?

Hope not. But seems likely as our Gus always seems to be pushing the tyre age window ever outwards.

OK, I got "very nice" instead of "beautiful". Close enough, surely. Yeah, the tyres were, I fear, new when baby Jebus was helping his dad knock out pipe racks in the carpentry shop They'll just have to do for now, short of them actually bulging or delaminating. Can't afford four new boots a month before Christmas

....I'll refrain from commenting on the car knowledge skillz required to spot a 15-year OOP tyre tread pattern at a hundred yards

[Johnnyboy]

I have just taken 4 ancient NCT 3's off Miss January (on the instructions of this forum...). They were not cracking or anything and had plenty of tread left, but the improvement in grip provided by a set of cheap Nankangs was quite noticable.

(I have of course kept the NCT's in case I ever want to go drifting...)

And Codge - where on earth did you get the Turkish from??? French Ok, but Turkish!!!

John

[codge]

All in different years....Bodrum x2, Kalkan,Fethiye, Kemer, Antalya, Istanbul x10, Alanya, Famagusta (N. Cyprus) x12

It's still a bit like 'ello 'ello though. And mainly nouns/money that sticks in the brain.....the verb conjugations get a bit hairy.

But it is very nice to ask a local bartender in his own language 'Oi, is this octopus soup I'm drinking'? Their faces are a picture.

But Efes beer does taste like octopus soup I think......

[Lucky]

Made some progress today. Finally managed to get a dry day when I wasn't utterly spammed with work to get ol' Safka up in the air and have a go with some rust protectant. There's obviously some rust, but not too bad (yet) and I wanted to get some protective stuff on before the salt starts being laid on the roads. Hopefully if I can get through winter without too much harm being done, I can then take him off the road to give the underside the proper POR15 treatment come the better weather. That's the plan.

To this end I've been using ACT 50 which is a magic jizooom that rust converts and forms a film that stop water/grime penetration as well. I swear by this stuff, used it on bikes for years and it's just magic. The best thing is, it's washable-offable with some degreaser come summer so I'll be able to paint POR on without a lifetime's prep work like if I used waxoyl or something more "durable". Besides, waxoyling is the single shittiest, most horrible job ever by all accounts. Anyway...

This is the O/S rear arch before


This is it after brushing, cleaning, then wiping everything over with ACT 50. You can see on like the shocker and exhaust shield how it's already started to convert the surface rust. In a couple of weeks' time I'll get in and do another application (weather permitting) and catch anything I missed


Front arch after cleaning/treating


All this is pretty sound though the nadgery corners by the brake cooling ducts, the edges of the wings meeting the arch, etc are all pretty cheesy to be fair. Hopefully there'll still be enough metal there to paint come spring



Also got the essential stickerage sorted out lol


And managed to get what pics I could of the exhaust that's alleged to have been made up by a Rolls-Royce engineer. That much is true, evidently the guy was a family friend who serviced the car for the previous owner, but whether he "made" this exhaust or knocked it together from off the shelf bits I have no real clue. It certainly seems to be all-stainless. Any of it look familiar to anyone? (BTW, it's bloody hard to photograph an exhaust from under a car on axle stands when you only have an 18-200 78mm lens and its minimum focal length is about the length of your arm Bloody hell, the contortions I had to go through to bring you these pics hahaha)

*ahem* Back box


Over-axle bend


Mid-section


headers and front pipe


..and from above


I only had time to get one side of the car treated today, so hopefully tomorrow will be dry and I'll be able to finish off. Probably get better pics of the zorst from t'other side as well. Oh, for a pillar lift.....

[codge]

Exhaust looks like off-the-shelf bits Nik. But a nice piece of fitting methinks - it slots into place very neatly indeed. The Double 'S' aftermarket that I (and others) use tends to hang down a bit,rather like an old man's goolies......

[ian65]

That ATC 50 stuff looks pretty impressive stuff... is it expensive? The exhaust looks good as well for a bespoke item. The wheel arches / inner wings look very clean and solid... a rare sight these days.

[chc]

TMX looking good Lucky - nice one mate.
Stainless exhaust is rather nice - could do with finding a couple like that for both my S2s'.
Just think of this - if you found it difficult to get the proper angled photographic shot, how must it be for us poor guys who carry out maintenance and/or restoration work working only on axle stands for weeks on end? What I would say though it is worth the effort and bashed/scraped/mangled fingers when we have finished - pride and joy!

Cliff

[Lucky]

So it begins lol, just for Steve.....


Test fit using the very non-scientific method of propping the wheel against the car . Need spigot rings since the bore on these is massive and it'll be flapping around like a prick in a shirtsleeve if I put them on like this lol. Bloody Christmas post... CBA to put them on then take them off in a couple of days to fit rings. Soooo lazy.



excuse the hazy photoshop skillz lol


I think they'll look pretty good, just wish there were four of them. I think if they fit these might end up on the front and I may get some Minilite-style with a bit more dish and in 15" for the rear eventually. Can't believe how many decent tyres there aren't for 14" wheels

I need better tyres, like soon. Those damned 15-year old bakelite things have all the grip of a catfish on ice skates. Went to the FDUK Christmas dinner in Safka the other night, Worthing to Reading and back. It wasn't even frozen and the bloody thing was all over the place. Even Beth kept saying "it's a bit slippery tonight, isn't it?" and I'm like, "no, no, dear, it's fine, you're imagining it." I'm going to hell lol, if she knew what was really happening she'd have a cow

[Steve-A]

Looks awesome, I agree Watanabes/Minilites would look great in the rear, or preferably something else as rare as those! Either way something 8" wide with those up front. Personally I'd stick to 14s on the rear, I've seen a few 7s on 14s recently about the web and I kinda wish I'd gone 14 not 15 now.

IMO spigots aren't vital, considering many of them are plastic is says they aren't load bearing just help you get the wheel centred when putting it on. Using taper seat bolts and sensible cross torquing when doing them up it's no problem.